Blue Eyes
by AncientKyuubi
Summary: Takes place after time skip. FemNaru. After the Akatsuki Incident is squared away everything gets back to normal right? Not for a certain red-headed Kazekage and a blonde fox-girl. Love is in the air and Sunagakure is about to have it's hands full.GaaNaru
1. Chapter 1

Hi! My first fic here! Be kind!

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto would I be writing fanfiction? No I would not.

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It was a beautiful day in the village of Konohagakure. The sun was shining, birds were singing, and a slight breeze was blowing keeping it from getting to hot. Yes, it was an absolutely gorgeous day and a young girl named Naruko Uzumaki couldn't get a certain red-headed Kazekage out of her mind.

Naruko was 15 years old, had blonde hair and blue eyes, whisker marks on her cheeks, and the oddest part of her features where fox ears on top of her head and nine fox tails off her backside. All of the fox appendages were orange. The interesting thing about these tails is that Naruko could do anything she wanted with them whether it be wearing them normal, one long puffy tail, or a short poofy one. Naruko was the vessel of the nine tailed fox and about a year ago assimilated with the fox giving her the fox features and a very large power boost. On top of all that she had become quite a looker with a slim waist toned arms and long elegant legs.

Naruko didn't know why she was thinking about him so much. She had just recently seen him under less than pleasant circumstances. He had been captured by Akatsuki who had extracted Shukaku from him which would have killed him permanently if Granny Chiyo had not given her life to save him. All of that still didn't explain why she couldn't stop thinking of Gaara. She decided to go talk to Sakura; she might know what's going on with her mind. Naruko found her exiting the library.

"Hey Sakura?" Naruko asked approaching her friend. "Could I talk to you?"

"Sure Naruko what's up?"

"Not here, it's kind of private"

"Um…Okay, then where?"

"The park is usually empty this time of day"

"All right."

Naruko led Sakura through the village to the park thinking about how she would ask her about her problem. 'Watch it be I am in love with him. What would I do then?' Naruko hoped it was something simple and that Sakura could help her. What if she had fallen in love? What then? Would Gaara feel the same way? How would she find out? It's not like she could just up and go to Sunagakure.

They reached the park and found a spot away from any crowded areas or places with a lot of traffic that was a sunny rock next to the pond. They sat and stared at the water for minute. Naruko decided that if she tried to think of a way to intelligently say it they would be there all day so she should just up and say it.

"Sakura, how do you know when your in love?" Start with an innocent question, that's a good idea, Naruko decided, her tails swaying nervously.

"What?" Sakura looked at Naruko with a startled look on her face. Why is Naruko asking THIS question?

"I..I said how do you know if your in love?"

"Well," Sakura started thoughtfully "you can't stop thinking about them, Your heart beats fast when you near them, you want to be near them, and you want them to be happy. Why?"

"I think I've fallen in love" Naruko stared at the water not knowing what to do.

"Oh! With who?" Sakura was very interested to know who could've caught Naruko's attention.

"I think it's Gaara" She said in a small voice.

Sakura just stared at Naruko. Did she hear wrong? Naruko COULDN'T have just said she's in love with the Kazekage…

"Wait, 'you think?'" Sakura couldn't understand how you couldn't be absolutely sure about something like that. She knew she was in love with Sasuke, how could Naruko not be sure?

"Well I only know I feel two of those things. I know I can't stop thinking about him and I know I really want to see him again, but I don't know about the other two." Naruko didn't know how she would find out either. She was sure Tsunade wouldn't just let her leave Konoha for no reason.

Sakura sat and looked thoughtful for a few minutes. She really wanted Naruko to find someone who loved her, everyone needed to experience love at least once. But she didn't know how to help her on this one. She knew Tsunade wouldn't let her go with Akatsuki out looking for the Jinchuri…. THAT'S IT!

"I have an idea!" Sakura exclaimed grabbing Naruko's arm and half-dragging her away somewhere.

"Whoa! Where are we going?" Naruko asked trying to gain her footing, which is hard when the person dragging you shows no indication of slowing down.

"We are going to see Tsunade!"

"What? Why?"

"You'll see!"

FOXFOXFOXFOX

Lady Tsunade sat looking at the piles of paper work on her desk. Why did she agree to this job? And where was Shizune with her sake? She still had figure out what to do about the Akatsuki. They went after the Kazekage to extract his biju which only led to the conclusion that they would eventually come after Naruko. According to Jiraya, Naruko was friends with the Akatsuki member named Tobi who was described as being 'more than a little strange with the mind of a five-year-old and the attention span of an insane flea."

She was contemplating all of these problems when a very excited Sakura burst into the room practically dragging a confused looking Naruko. Sigh, What now?

"Tsunade-sama!"

"Yes Sakura what is? I should have you know that I don't have the time to settle a squabble."

"We aren't fighting but I think Naruko should be sent to Sunagakure!"

"We should send her where?"

"WE SHOULD SEND ME WHERE?" Naruko's tails puffed and her ears shot to attention. What the hell is Sakura thinking? The old lady will never agree to that!

"And why, Sakura, should I do that?" What was this child thinking? Naruko can't leave the village, if she does the Akatsuki would be all over her.

"Think about it Hokage-sama, Akatsuki know that Naruko is here in Konohagakure. If we sneak her out of the village, only telling those who are absolutely important we should be able to get Naruko to the sand without them knowing.!"

"Sakura, the sand was just attacked and the Kazekage captured if you'll remember."

"Yes, and they got what they where after! As far as the Akatsuki are concerned there are no more Jinchuriki in Sunagakure!"

"….." Never before did Tsunade like Sakura more than she did then. In one crazy outburst she may have solved one problem that was giving Tsunade fits.

"That may be the most brilliant plan I've heard since this whole ordeal started" Tsunade pulled a scroll towards her " I'll notify the Kazekage that Naruko and some bodyguards will be on there way."

"Thank you Tsunade-sama!"

"Be ready to leave the day after tomorrow at 5:00am."

"Yes Ma'am!"

Sakura pushed a stunned Naruko out of the Hokage tower and stopped when she noticed that Naruko hadn't responded. Was something wrong with her? Sakura figured Naruko would be ecstatic to be going to Sunagakure. She was just standing there, staring forward at nothing. Should she say something? She didn't get the chance to say anything however as she found herself with her arms full of an excited Naruko whose tails had shrunk to a poof the length of a dog tail and was wagging happily.

" Sakura have I ever told you how much I love your brain?"

She couldn't believe it! She was going to see Gaara! But what would she say to him? What if he didn't return her feelings? Naruko was excited and worried at the same time. At least Sakura would be going with her, right?…Right?

"You are coming with me aren't you?"

"Just try to keep me away!" Of course she would be coming was Naruko crazy?

"I should go pack! I need to laundry and go shopping and…"

"Naruko! Calm down!"

"But there's so much I need to do!"

"Yes but you don't have to do it ALL today! You can do your laundry today and I'll go shopping with you tomorrow then I'll help you pack."

"THANK YOU SAKURA!" Naruko ran down the street to her little apartment. She almost broke down the door in her haste to get inside, but she didn't and proceeded to round up her dirty clothes.

FOXFOXFOXFOX

Sakura watched with amusement as Naruko darted in and out of the rows of clothes occasionally stopping to look at and sometimes grab something. When she looked as though she had enough clothes to choke Gamabunta she trotted over to the changing rooms and went in. Sakura was unsure how good Naruko's sense of fashion was. She would admit the outfit she usually wore that consisted of an orange and black halter top, black skirt, white stockings, and black lace-up knee-high boots was very cute, but anyone could get lucky.

Fortunately, Naruko was not merely lucky. Her first outfit was a blue short sleeved shirt with a neck that almost fell off the shoulders, under that was a mesh t-shirt. Her bottom half consisted of a pair of baggy khaki shorts that went down to her knees and blue sandals on her feet. All in all it worked with her.

This went on for about an hour until Naruko picked her top five favorite outfits. They paid and went to the next shop, which was a lingerie shop. Sakura wondered why in the world Naruko would need something from here. She soon got here answer. Apparently this was the only shop in the village that could fix her interesting underwear predicament considering that she had a mass of tail and conventional underwear wouldn't fit. It was also the only place that could accommodate her double-d bust line.

It was an interesting visit. Sakura kept catching Naruko stealing glances at the more seductive clothing rack. When she was caught she would blush and quickly turn back to what she was doing. Sakura knew why and understood. If this had been her and Sasuke she'd be doing the same thing. Finally, Sakura went over to Naruko.

"Oh go on. Why not? You know, just in case." Sakura whispered to Naruko a motioned toward the rack of Naruko's apparent interest

Naruko grinned and scooched over to a particularly alluring set of red lingerie with embroidered black roses. At least she has good taste. Naruko finished her shopping and led Sakura back to her apartment. It was surprisingly clean considering the large volume of folded clothes all over the bed.

"Were is your bag?" Sakura looked at the small mess. How much was Naruko going to need? How much was SHE going to need? It just occurred to her that she hadn't asked Tsunade how long they were going to stay in Sunagakure.

"Umm.. How many am I going to need?" Naruko wondered how much of this she was actually going to need to take with her.

"Hello girls!" A Familiar voice was heard over by Naruko's window. Both girls spun around to find Kakashi climbing in through the window. Did this guy not know how to use doors or did he merely ignore their existence?

"Kakashi-sensei!"

"You scared us! Don't you ever use doors?" Naruko pointed an accusing finger at him.

"Occasionally but I didn't come here to discuss how frequently I use doors. Tsunade-sama Instructed me to inform you that you will be staying for several months so pack accordingly."

"Thanks Kakashi-sensei!" There's a question answered.

"No problem. See you tomorrow morning." Kakashi hopped out the window leaving two befuddled girls.

"Did YOU know he was coming?" Naruko asked in confusion.

"No. Tsunade doesn't tell me anything until the last minute."

They proceeded to look for some bags to pack with wondering who else was going to be escorting them.

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Hope you enjoyed! I'll update by next week! Review pls.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Own Naruto I do not! All I've got are a few years worth of Shonen Jump. :P

Reviews

**101BoOkWoRm101**: Thank you! Me talk grammar good!

**JessMess: **Glad you like it. Thank my spell check.

**Nekid: **Interesting is good. I like your name btw.

**PrincessOli: **Yes master. Here you go.

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The desk would soon have a hole in it with the intensity that Sabaku no Gaara was staring at it. Life had returned to normal relatively quickly after the Akatsuki incident. Normal for everyone but Gaara that is. Ever since Shukaku had been removed he had been able to focus his energy on things other than keeping himself awake. Problem was he had no idea what to focus on so his subconscious decided to focus for him on one Naruko Uzumaki.

The thought of the blonde Kunoichi made Gaara feel strange. He didn't know what he felt and he wasn't sure if he liked it or not. Should he ask somebody? He highly doubted Kankuro would be any help for the fact that he seemed to specialize in hurting peoples feelings rather than explaining them. As far as Temari was concerned, well, Gaara's older sister could be a real battleaxe sometimes and could intimidate the toughest of ninja, even Gaara himself although he would never admit it. The thought of talking to anyone else was downright laughable.

In the end he decided to talk to Temari. Even though she could be scary sometimes she was still family who loved him. Besides, she couldn't yell at him for having feelings. About that moment Temari entered the Kazekage's office grumbling about something along the lines of 'stupid elders' or something like that. Lovely, she was in a bad mood, That will make things more difficult. He'd never actually spoken to her when she was in a bad mood. That had always been Kankuro's misfortune.

"Hey, Gaara." Okay so, not a complete bad mood. Annoyed maybe.

"Temari, I need to talk to you" He didn't return the greeting, but when did he ever return greetings before now?

"Um… okay" Temari was a little taken aback. Gaara never NEEDED to talk to anyone. If Gaara spoke it was because he wanted to.

"I feel strange."

"Strange how? Are you sick?" Gaara shook his head. He didn't think he was sick.

"Then elaborate, Strange can mean a lot of things."

"I'm not sure. The only thing I do know is that I can't stop thinking about Naruko Uzumaki."

"…Why?" Naruko? Why would Gaara be thinking about HER. She's a nice girl but… NARUKO?

"If I knew I wouldn't be having this conversation." He had a point. She was lucky he was using sentences that were longer than three words.

"Well… are you feeling anything else? I mean other than just thinking about her?" Gaara hadn't thought about that. Did he feel something else? He sat for a minute and just focused on her.

"I feel like I really want to see her."

"Right, anything else?"

"No" Great, back to single syllables and the 'n' word.

"That's not much to go on." Blank stare

"But from what you've told me, it sounds like you're in love." Blank stare…..SAY SOMETHING DAMNIT!

"I'm in love?" Words! Thank god! "What should I do?" Odd question.

"I'm not sure. It's not like we can write the Hokage and ask if we can borrow Naruko to see if you love her." Glare. No sarcasm huh? At this point they found themselves to be interrupted by a messenger who deposited a scroll in Temari's hand. She opened it when he left and immediately recognized the leaf symbol and Hokage seal. Her eyes grew wide as she read until she finally handed the message over to Gaara.

"It seems our problem has been solved for us." His eyes scanned the note got even wider than Temari's had. Had she seen a hint of excitement cross his face. This scared her a bit because every other time Gaara showed emotion people had a tendency to die.

He looked at her with an expression of 'now what?' How was she supposed to know? Gaara being in love was a concept she didn't think she would ever have to experience.

"Well, they will be here in a few days. At the very least you should arrange somewhere for them to stay." Maybe somewhere close by? Gaara took a piece of paper and began scribbling something on it. Temari decided it would be best to leave him to his thoughts and promptly left the room. She decided not to tell Kankuro for his own safety. Gaara would tell him when he was ready.

Naruko is coming here for her own protection? It was a brilliant idea and gave him the opportunity to sort out his feelings. This whole 'falling in love' thing was all new to him. How would he know? Would she like him back? All kinds of questions buzzed around in his head like an agitated nest of hornets. For now he would prepare for her arrival and maybe later he could have an extended conversation with Temari About this whole feelings thing.

FOXFOXFOXFOX

Naruko, almost didn't need her alarm clock to wake her up because she sprang out of bed two minutes before it went off. She darted around stopping only to use the bathroom and turn off the alarm. She gathered her things by the front door and looked at the clock. 4:15. Plenty of time to have breakfast. She dug through her cabinets and found her last container of instant ramen. In three minutes she started scarfing her favorite food. She had it eaten in five minutes and shot out the door with her bags, unable to restrain herself any longer.

She trotted up to the main gate to find that Sakura had beaten her there. She just as excited as Naruko and waved as she approached.

"Wow Sakura you here early! We still have thirty minutes before we leave."

"I know, but I couldn't help it."

They stood there in silence waiting impatiently for people to start showing up. Would they EVER get here? Finally they saw four outlines one of which looked like a huge dog. Definitely Kiba Inuzuka. The other two were not so easy to ID until they were much closer. They turned out to be Neji Hyuuga and Shikamaru Naru. Everyone was there except Kakashi. It was 4:50.

"This is such a drag" Shikamaru stared at Naruko as if were her fault that their last member was missing.

"Kakashi-sensei is always late." Sakura pointed out to the group with a mildly annoyed look.

"Sakura, I'm hurt!" Kakashi had appeared behind Sakura without anyone seeing where he came from. "You should know I'm never late when it's something important."

"Where did you come from?" Sakura exclaimed in surprise at her masked teacher.

"Well Sakura, it began when my mom met my dad…" Kakashi grinned at an irritable Sakura.

"Not even close to what I meant." Sakura snapped at Kakashi.

"Um.. Shouldn't we get going?" Naruko asked. She was rather anxious to get going despite the long travel.

"Yes I suppose so" Replied Kakashi with a grimace. This was an important mission and _he_ was picking with Sakura.

Naruko almost to enthusiastically led the group out of the village. Sakura had to snatch the collar of her black and orange jacket to keep her from bolting away from the group. The blonde, despite her nerves, thought the group could be moving much faster. After all, wasn't the point to get her to Sunagakure quickly?

"Gee, Naruko, you sure are excited about this." Shikamaru said giving Naruko an suspicious look. She's not the kind of person that would agree to be hidden away so he wondered why she would agree to this scheme to hide her away.

"Well, It's just that I've always wanted to explore Sunagakure. I wasn't able to last time we were there. Besides we didn't get to properly visit Gaara and the others. We have lots of time now." Naruko hoped her explanation would satisfy them all until she was ready to tell them why she _really_ wanted to go.

Shikamaru didn't really buy the explanation but judging by the looks on Neji's and Kakashi's faces the didn't either. Kiba and Sakura, who were now chatting excitedly with the blonde fox-girl, seemed to be the only ones who didn't suspect anything unless they were in on it. Sakura probably was in on it. That girl was way to smart to fall for an excuse _that_ weak. Kiba on the other hand likely didn't suspect a thing. Not that he's dumb or anything, he's just not the type to analyze to deeply. Whatever the reason Naruko was excited to be going and Shikamaru wanted to know why. He decided to keep an eye on her instead of pressing the issue in conversation. If he knew Naruko as well as he thought he did she would be too stubborn to change the story.

FOXFOXFOXFOX

Gaara looked over the descriptions of all the hotels in the village, in particular the ones close to his home. He didn't feel like any of them where nice enough for his approaching guests. Hotel Suna was the nicest place and wasn't far from his manor. It was rather nice and had a swimming pool which he was sure Naruko would enjoy. Thanks to a strange looking man named Tobi who had just recently come to Sunagakure he knew a lot more about the Enigma that was Naruko. He now knew the she loved to swim, liked to shop, and seemed to have picked up an affinity and talent for cooking. He already knew she loved ramen and the color orange, of course, _everyone_ knew that about Naruko.

"As far as the swimming thing goes she could always use my pool. It's much bigger than any hotel pool anyway." Gaara thought aloud.

"Then why not have them stay at our place?" A voice at the door brought the Kazekage out of his musings to discover Temari smirking at him from the door.

"What?" He wasn't quite sure he heard her right.

"Think about it Gaara, we have plenty of room and it would save money on a hotel."

"I guess your right" Gaara replied with small hint of excitement on his face.

"Alright then, I'll have the rooms prepared. Six right?"

Gaara nodded his head and watched as Temari left with a pleasant smile on her face. Naruko would be staying at his manor. He wondered what the chances were that her room would be near his. The thought placed a small smile on his face. Him and Temari, after a long discussion, had decided that he was either sick or in love and Gaara was most definitely _not_ sick. The feeling was still foreign to him but he decided he actually liked the sensation he was experiencing. And if what Temari said was true, being with Naruko would feel wonderful. He had found himself spacing out and thinking about her a lot the past few days. What would kissing her feel like? Thinking of kissing her made him feel strange and hot. His thoughts her once again interrupted by a voice.

"Is my little bro _blushing?" _Kankuro asked giving the redhead an amused look.

"What are you talking about?" Gaara said, his face returning to normal.

"Come on, tell me what's up" Kankuro sat in the chair in front the desk giving his brother a coy grin.

"Nothing" Gaara knew as soon as Kankuro found out about his feelings for Naruko he would heckle him almost endlessly. No best to keep him in the dark until he was ready to put up with it lest Kankuro find himself a few limbs short. Gaara may not be homicidal anymore but that didn't mean he was above dismemberment even if they _were_ siblings.

"Aw come on you can tell me!" Kankuro said trying to pry some information out of him.

"I said it was nothing" Gaara replied giving his brother a look that screamed 'leave me alone if you want to keep your balls.'

"Come on Gaara what's the deal? I _know_ I saw you blushing" He apparently didn't get the look. "Just a hint?"

"Stop bothering your brother Kankuro, I need you to do something for me." Temari said stepping into the office.

"Aw no fair Temari!"

"Shut up Kankuro" She brandished a list at him " I need you to go get these things for me"

"Why?"

Temari gave him a stern look.

"Because we are going to have _company_ and we need to be prepared for them."

Kankuro grumbled and stood up. He walked over to Temari, snatched the list, and made his way irritably out of the room. Temari watched him with a sigh before she made her way over to Gaara and took up occupation in the chair Kankuro had vacated.

"Thanks"

"No problem Gaara" She smiled at her brother. "I figured that Kankuro ending up mauled might put a dampener on the rest of this week and considering that Naruko and her escorts are supposed to show up in three days we might ought to prevent that." Gaara chuckled a bit.

"I guess I should send the guide to wait for them."

"Yes we wouldn't want your girlfriend-to-be getting lost in the desert do we?"

"Hm.." Gaara merely grunted before his thoughts drifted back to the blonde-headed vixen making her way to him.

FOXFOXFOXFOX

"ATCHOO!" Naruko wiped her nose from the sneeze that came out of nowhere.

"Someone must be thinkin' about ya Naruko." Kiba nudged Naruko with a grin.

"What?" Naruko asked.

"Don't you know Naruko?" Sakura asked her friend.

"A sneeze means someone is thinking about you" Kakashi explained.

"Really? I hope they're thinking nice things." Naruko wondered who could be thinking about her. With a giggle and a twitch of her tails she wondered if it might be Gaara.

They had traveled for several day with little incident and had almost reached the desert. The closer they got the more excited yet nervous Naruko became. Her mind kept drifting to the sand village where the red headed Kazekage waited for her arrival. They wouldn't reach the desert until tomorrow and despite Tsunade assuring them that a guide would be sent to get them safely to Sunagakure Naruko was sure they would get lost.

"You seem tense Naruko." Neji observed causing Naruko to blush and her tails to twist nervously around themselves. "Is something wrong?"

"N-no! I'm just tired is all." Naruko Didn't know her nerves were showing so obviously.

"Well it is getting late, maybe we should make camp for the night" Kakashi suggested looking at the sun that had sank below the horizon so far stars were beginning to show.

"That sounds good" Naruko said. She wanted to get to Sunagakure as soon as possible but was not in such a hurry that she could give up a hot meal and some sleep.

They Chose a secluded spot a little way off the trail to make camp. Kiba began gathering firewood, Kakashi cleared the ground around the site, Neji and Shikamaru started pitching the tents, and Naruko and Sakura volunteered to find water. They traveled several yards following the sound of running water that Naruko's ears had picked up. They found the stream in a small clearing. Sakura scooped the water into two buckets while Naruko listened for danger.

"You're nervous aren't you?" Sakura asked picking up the full buckets and handing one to Naruko.

"I don't know why I'm nervous" Naruko took the bucket "I'm excited too but I wish I knew where these nerves were coming from."

"It's perfectly normal, Naruko" A voice behind them made them whirl around in shock to find Itachi Uchiha perched on a rock next to stream.

"Oh, it's you Itachi." Naruko said trying to get her heart back down to her chest where it belonged.

"You startled us" Sakura said.

"Not my intention I assure you."

"What are you doing here?" Naruko asked.

"I've been following you since you left Konoha making sure you weren't attacked."

"Wow. That was nice of you" Sakura commented.

"But how did you hide from Neji and Kiba?" Naruko asked with a puzzled look on her face.

"I have my ways, but what's important is what you are going to do about Gaara when you reach your destination."

"H-how did you know about that?" Naruko asked turning the same shade as Sakura's headband. Itachi smiled at the fox-girl.

"Don't be afraid to tell him how you feel, you might just be surprised with the result."

"Are you going to follow us all the way through the desert?" Sakura asked.

"No, but a friend is waiting in the Sand Village to keep an eye on you."

"Really? Who?" Naruko asked.

"I can't say. You'll see when you get there." Itachi replied turning his back to them.

"WAIT! How do you know about Gaara?" Itachi leapt away into the trees leaving Naruko's question unanswered.

"Shoot" Naruko blew a bang out of her face and turned toward camp.

"It's okay Naruko, you know he'll keep it to himself" Sakura reassured her friend.

"I know I just wish I knew how he knew."

"Itachi often knows more than you think he should"

"Maybe…"

They walked back in silence thinking of their encounter with the Akatsuki member they had befriended. The campsite was almost ready when they arrived. The tents where up, and Kiba and Akamaru were returning from there firewood hunt. Kiba had a large pile in his arms and Akamaru had a large branch clutched in his jaws.

"Geez, what took you guys so long?" Shikamaru asked them in annoyance "girls are so troublesome."

"Sorry, we were talking." Sakura explained. It wasn't far from the truth, they really _were_ talking.

"Be a bit more careful girls" Kakashi advised as he dug around in his bag.

"Yes sir" They both chimed.

They sat the water down next to the fire pit that had be dug out. Kiba was busy filling up the pit with wood, and Neji was patrolling the edge of the clearing. The next few minutes passed in silence. Kakashi found the matches and ignited the wood. Shikamaru fished a large pot out of a bag and filled it with the water Naruko and Sakura brought back. Soon they were all sitting around the campfire eating instant ramen.

"Naruko, you're to furry" Kiba said shoving one of her fox tails out of his soup.

"Woof!" Akamaru agreed.

"Oh you're the last person I need to hear THAT from." she said glaring at the horse-sized canine. Akamaru responded by planting a sloppy wet lick on Naruko's face.

"EWWWW!" Naruko screeched wiping the slobber off her face. She glared at her teammates who had began to laugh. The glare slowly slid from her face to leave her laughing with the rest of them.

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Holy cow that was a long chapter! I started and just couldn't stop!

Only four reviews? Come on guys! Reviews make happy and I write better when I get good reviews. Thanks to those who did review.

As usual tell me how I'm doing! Update next week. Bye-bye!


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Own Naruto I do not. Wish I did but wishing never paid the bills.**

**Reviews:**

**Yami-No-HikariBre**: Happy to have converted you. This is one of my fave pairings.

**Tachi Kagahara**: Glad you like. I'm not telling.

**Jessmess**: I think Gaara was cute too. I hope I don't disappoint you. Itachi is one of my favorite characters, I had to make him good.

**freakin'cute'blonde**: Thanks much! Glad you like the Itachi thing.

**WARNING! MILD LEMON IN THIS CHAPTER! FIRST THING ACTUALLY. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!**

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"Ah! G-Gaara!" Naruko gasped as the red-head kissed his way down her neck onto her bare, heaving chest. He paused briefly to suckle a hardened nipple before moving farther down her body leaving a trail of licks and kisses. Her hands clutched the soft bedspread underneath her tightly.

His hands slid down her sides to come to rest on her waist. His lips traveled around her abdomen just briefly before he took hold of her leg and began to place small pecks on the inside of her thigh extracting a small moan from her lips. He slid closer to her wet entrance but skipped over it to her other leg. The anticipation was almost maddening. He spent what felt like an eternity on the limb before he turned his attention to the spot of real interest. She was already very wet with her own juices as his fingers slipped between the soft lips, sliding up to press slightly on the hard clit. Naruko moaned in longing, wanting him to stop teasing her.

"Please… Gaara" She wound her fingers through his hair.

"Please what?" He whispered gently rubbing her clit. Her back arched and gave a loud moan.

"Please… I need you… T-take me now" she begged.

Gaara smirked at her and crawled up her body. He cupped her cheek in his hand and pulled her into a kiss. He pressed his tongue against her lips requesting entrance and she was only too happy too oblige. She moaned as there tongues fought for dominance. They pulled apart and Gaara turned his attention to her neck. He positioned himself and Naruko groaned with pleasure at the contact.

"Are you ready?" Gaara whispered huskily into her ear.

"Yes" She barely whispered. Gaara began to push himself in causing Naruko to let out a small cry.

"Hey Naruko, Get up we need to get going!" Kiba shouted rousing Naruko from her very heated slumber. _Damn it Kiba I'm gonna KILL you!_

FOXFOXFOXFOX

"Hey guys, What's up with Naruko?" Kiba asked looking curiously at his blonde teammate "she's been ignoring me."

"No idea" Sakura lied. She knew exactly what the problem was. She had heard Naruko mumble Gaara's name a few times that night and could only imagine what she could have been dreaming but having heard her moan a few times she assumed it had to have been hot.

They continued the long trek to the desert, chatting on and off (Naruko ignoring Kiba of course) Until the it stretched before like a large golden rug going on as far as the eye could see. Naruko stared at it and all of a sudden her nerves from the previous day returned like a shark to chummed up water. All they could do now was wait for the promised escort. They didn't have to wait long before they spotted two moving dots on horizon. They had to wait for them to get closer before they realized they were people because one of the dots was rapidly moving up and down.

"YOOHOO!" A voice screeched. When they got close enough to make out details they saw a man who was about 5' 7" had brown hair and sapphire blue eyes, was wearing a plain white cloak that wrapped all the way around him and stopped at his ankles and what looked like black boots. Next to him, bouncing like a beach ball on a trampoline, was a small girl with purple hair and pink eyes and was wearing a similar cloak to the man's only in bright pink and her sandals were blue. Both wore the Hitai-ate of the sand village.

"YAY! We finally made it" the small girl said enthusiastically.

"We would have been here sooner if you didn't have to go off chasing that lizard" The man said in annoyance.

"BUT IT WAS SO CUUUUUTE!" She squealed. The man sighed and shook his head.

"Hey, nice to meet you, I'm Fujiwara and this little annoyance is Ukimi" He motioned at the hyperactive child who was still hopping up and down like a rabbit on steroids.

"HEY! I'm not annoying!" Fujiwara put his hand on her head to stop her incessant bouncing.

"Yes you are, now stand still." She stuck her tongue out at him but remained still.

"Aw! How old is she?" Sakura asked motioning to Ukimi.

"I'm eight!" She said holding up the proper number of fingers.

"Wow and your already a ninja?" Naruko asked in amazement.

"She is actually a pretty good ninja even though she doesn't look OR act like it." Ukimi stuck out her tongue cutely.

"Shouldn't we get going?" Shikamaru asked lazily.

"Yeah come on" Fujiwara turned to lead them through the vast desert.

FOXFOXFOXFOX

The instant Naruko stepped foot into the desert Gaara knew. He didn't know how he knew he just did. That meant if they didn't have any outstanding delays they would be there by the next evening. Temari often caught her brother staring out at the desert instead of doing his paperwork. He had sent the guide the day before yesterday and should have met up with them on time. She agreed with sending Fujiwara to meet them. The man was experienced and knew the desert like the back of his hand but she greatly questioned the choice of sending little Ukimi as his partner. The girl was a good Kunoichi but she was no guide and acted like she was on a constant sugar-high.

Temari watched as her little brother sat spacing out… Gaara spacing out…. It was actually kind of cute… She could practically hear his fangirls squealing. Luckily said fangirls weren't allowed in the _building_ let alone his office. Their lives would be spared.. For today at least. Okay so she didn't think Gaara would actually kill them, but Temari could still dream couldn't she? She was going to have a lot of problems if Gaara and Naruko became a couple. The bloodlust was imminent. Oh well, she was willing to put up with it for Gaara's sake. Speaking of Gaara it was about time to pull him out of the daze he had been in for the past ten minutes.

"Gaara?"

"Hm?" Gaara turned his head toward her and she could see his eyes were still slightly glazed over.

"Your paperwork isn't going to disappear you know." He looked down at the small pile of documents.

"I guess so" He said taking the first sheet off the pile to read it. She saw irritation flash across his face. "How the _hell_ did this get past Imiko?" He asked immediately putting a huge DENIED stamp right across the front and putting it off to the side. Temari picked it up to see what could have annoyed him this badly.

"…" It was a petition for the Kazekage outfit to be sexier. She was wrong. The fangirls _could_ get into the office if only indirectly. She would have to tell the secretary to be more thorough in her scan for useless propositions. Imiko could be a bit sloppy sometimes.

Gaara's irritation gradually declined as he signed the documents that _weren't_ steeped in stupid. The stack diminished rapidly as Gaara went through them like Kyuubi through Konoha. Before Temari knew it the sizeable stack of paper had all been stamped, signed, and sorted and Gaara went back to staring out the window. That was proof. Gaara was _definitely_ in love. He was NEVER this distracted with something that wasn't directly in front of him. Temari felt that staying in the office was pointless if Gaara wasn't responsive to her presence so she stood and moved silently from the room.

Despite not having Shukaku to boost his powers he was still very powerful and still one with the desert. This allowed him to sense anything that was happening in the sands of his home and he was currently focused on the Blond Jinchuriki that was making her way almost torturously slowly to him. He couldn't focus on anything else for very long knowing that the object of his obsession was within his grasp. It took almost all of his willpower not to sand teleport out to her and bring her back to Suna so he wouldn't have to wait a whole day for her to arrive. It was times like these he wished he didn't have insomnia. The next day would come much sooner if he could just go unconscious for a few hours. He could sometimes sleep for a little while but not nearly as long as he wished he could sometimes. Now that he didn't have to worry about Shukaku taking over when he lost consciousness he actually _wanted_ to sleep but it was hard to break an insomnia habit.

"Damn you Shukaku" He mumbled. It was because of that demon that he couldn't sleep. "Maybe I could sleep if _she _was with me" The thought made his face turn hot all of a sudden. He _liked _the idea of Naruko sleeping with him. Him and Temari had already definitively ruled out him being sick but if he _had_ been sick he didn't want to get better. He was still new to this love thing but so far it felt good so why fight it?

FOXFOXFOXFOX

The small group traveled steadily through the burning desert and Naruko was seriously regretting wearing her _long_ sleeved _black_ jacket. She felt like she was roasting. Akamaru looked as bad as she did. The poor dog had long, thick fur and it didn't help that Kiba was riding him.

"Kiba, maybe you should stop riding Akamaru" Naruko told the dog-boy "it looks like he's coming down with heat-stroke."

"Yeah, he does look kind of tired" Sakura said.

"Yeah, I'll walk for a while" Kiba said, dismounting and offering the dog some water which was eagerly lapped up.

"Poor doggie" Ukimi commented. The little kunoichi patted the dog's head. This earned her a sloppy lick that made her giggle happily.

Not much happened on the first day of desert travel other than Ukimi shooting off in an entirely wrong direction to chase 'a pretty shiny thing' that was referred to as troublesome by Shikamaru and adorable by Sakura. Neji stayed silent as always. Kakashi helped Fujiwara chase down the mischievous child and they continued on their way.

They traveled until the sun started to set and Fujiwara suggested they camp for the night. In a fit of rare usefulness, Ukimi found a cave for them to stay in so they unpacked their camping gear minus the tents which were highly unnecessary. That night they sat around a fire eating a small dinner when Fujiwara noticed the absence of Ukimi. He scanned the area and spotted her crouching in a corner fiddling with something she looked like she was trying to hide. He stood and marched over to her.

"Ukimi, what are you doing?" He asked eyeing her suspiciously. She quickly hid whatever she was messing with and tried to look innocent.

"Nothing" She squeaked.

"Ukimi" He said sternly "What are you hiding from me?" She shook her head rapidly and tried to back away from him but he quickly snatched her up and grabbed what she was hiding behind her back. They all saw him holding a storage scroll and a few pieces of candy. "You little sneak! I told you no candy on this mission!" He yelled at her shaking her slightly.

"But I NEED candy!"

"No you do NOT need candy! You know what it does to you!"

"I'm sorry Fuji" she squeaked shyly.

"AND I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME FUJI!" Ukimi squeaked and tried to roll herself into a ball.

Fujiwara berated her for a few more minutes and was able to discover that she'd already devoured most of the contents of the scroll already. He sighed and dropped her pocketing what remained of the candy stash. Ukimi skittered away when she hit the ground and hid in a corner. Naruko wondered how bad she would get. Her question was quickly answered as about fifteen minutes later the small child was ricocheting around the cave at at least ninety miles an hour bouncing from floor to ceiling to wall to other wall to floor rinse, lather, repeat. Everyone was able to ignore her for the most part despite the high pitched squeals that she was emitting. When it was time to sleep Fujiwara caught her, tied her up to a wall, and stuffed her still squealing head in a sack. This muffled her enough to allow the calm inhabitants of the cave to fall asleep.

FOXFOXFOXFOX

Gaara had decided to at least lay down. Maybe if he was lucky he would doze for a while. He wondered if Naruko was asleep and stretched out his awareness to touch hers. He finally found the presence that felt like warm sunshine that was his Naruko. He also felt the others that were with her. One felt like a swarm of hornets got loose in a nuclear reactor and he decided that instead of letting his head explode from the sheer amount of energy he felt he would go back to the much calmer and pleasant mind that was Naruko. He let the presence wash over him. It felt good like she was with him laying in his arms. That was the first night in his entire life that he had slept the whole night through.

FOXFOXFOXFOX

Naruko looked around the still dark cave. Why did she wake up? It couldn't be any later than 12:00. She stood deciding that a walk outside would do her good. She looked at the tied lump on the wall that was Ukimi. The squealing had stopped and had been replaced with small "murr" sounds. She shook her head and exited the cave. She shivered a bit at the cold night air.

"You should really be asleep Naruko" A voice above her said. Her head shot up to look with surprise at a man with blue eyes and long blond hair that was partially up in a ponytail and bangs that were thrown over his left eye. He wore a hitai-ate of Iwagakure that was struck out. He sat atop a giant bird that was made out of clay and perched on an overhang above the cave entrance.

"Deidara! You scared me!"

"Sorry, not my intention, un"

"Are you here to look out for me too?"

"Yeah, that mean you meet Uchiha already?"

"Uh-huh. Me and Sakura spoke to Itachi before we entered the desert." Naruko thought it was great that Deidara and Itachi had been able to band together for a common goal, even if said common goal was the protective equivalent of stalking her. "I suppose that means that Tobi-kun is the one who is meeting us in Suna?"

"Did Uchiha not tell you, un?"

"All he said was that there was a friend waiting" Deidara sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Figures, he's like a cat. You can never get a straight answer from him, un."

"I'm sure he just wanted to surprise me."

"Maybe. You should get back to sleep. You got a lot of traveling tomorrow."

"Yeah, okay. G'night Deidara." Naruko yawned and went back inside.

"Night Naruko-chan." Deidara smiled and went back to guarding the cave.

Naruko crawled into her sleeping bag and took one last look around the cave before she drifted off everyone was asleep and Ukimi was still making small, incoherent crooning sounds. Right before she drifted off she thought she felt something wrap around her. It was strong, protective and gentle and felt like the warm sands that graced the landscape. She fell asleep feeling as is a guardian angel was holding her in his arms and protecting her.

* * *

I'm finally done with this chapter! I don't know why but it took me a while to finish this one.

REVIEW MORE! They make me happy.

Hope you liked it. I sure am having fun writing it. Don't forget to review! Bye-bye!


	4. Chapter 4

I'M SO SORRY! I didn't mean to take so long updating! Writer's block is a bitch! So is my design teacher but I'll not go into that. I'll get right to work on chapter 5 so maybe you won't have to wait so long this time!

**Reviews:**

**Lunar202: **Thanks! Sorry for the confusion. I'll explain myself this chapter. ^_^ thanks for being patient with me.

**Marlene00891:** Glad you are enjoying it! This is one of my fav pairings and I love working with FemNaru.

**Yami-No-HikariBre:** Yup! Contagious little bugger ain't it? Makes for a sweet story though.

**PrincessOli:** Um... Thank you?

**JessMess:** I love Kiba but he was the only sacrificeable person who would actually bother to wake her up. I love Deidara ^_^. It was sweet wasn't it?

**Cold Amarok:** Thank you! All will be explained! Sorry for confusing you!

**Ember Nyx:** :'[ Sorry for being slow! I'm glad you are enjoying it so much. She acts like me too.

**Tsuirakuangel: **Thanks! Here you go!

**Segaaa:** I'm a fangirl too!

**Greenwolf19: **Happy you like it!

**Kichou: **Okay.

**Ducky-Go-Rawrz-1234:** Here is the next chapter! I love your name!

**Sweetyamiyugigirl:** It will all be clear soon. I'm glad you like my story so much! Thanks for the info, I'll try to remember! HA HA HA! Citrus!

Apparently I have been confusing people with my Akatsuki Involvement. GOMEN! I don't like confusing people so here goes an explination. Itachi, Deidara, and Tobi-kun (yes I just call him Tobi-kun because he and Madara are NOT the same character... To me at least, I know he is in canon BACK OFF!) have banded together to protect her from the other members of Akatsuki. I will be devoting an entire chapter into explaining this later. They are the only three who are double agents. Gomen for any confusion.

Lovely lovely reviews! You guys are great! Here is the long awaited CHAPTER 4! YAY!

* * *

"Is she okay?" Sakura asked nudging Ukimi who was out cold and foaming at the mouth.

"Yeah, she'll be fine" Fujiwara said packing the last of his equipment in his pack "This is what happens when she has candy."

"What are we gonna do with her?" Shikamaru asked "It'll be way to troublesome to carry her the whole way."

"I'll carry her so don't worry" Fujiwara said scooping up the unconscious child.

The eight-year-old slept for most of the rest of the trip. Naruko on the other hand got more and more excited the closer she got to Sunagakure. She also kept dwelling on the presence she felt the night before. It had been very soothing and loving. She had her suspicions about who It was but she wasn't sure. She didn't think that Gaara was empathic, was empathic even the right word? There was a lot she didn't know about him. She hoped to learn more about him during her stay and hoped even harder that they could start a relationship. She wasn't going to assume that he felt the same way because everyone knows what is to assume. She would just have to gain his love and affection.

"murrrrrr" Ukimi was still out of it after several hours of hanging limply off of Fujiwara's back. Fujiwara plucked her off his back and sat her on the ground. He stepped back looking at the swaying, foaming child as if he was waiting for something. Suddenly she stopped foaming and began bouncing up and down again as if she hadn't just crashed from a sugar high.

"Sober yet?" Kiba asked her.

"She wasn't drunk" Neji pointed out.

"I know that I was tryin' to be funny!" Kiba yelled in annoyance.

"What he means is are you okay now?" Kakashi asked the small girl kindly.

"YUP! I'm feeling great!" she squeaked bouncing a little more enthusiastically.

The rest of the trip was rather uneventful. Ukimi's usual antics didn't delay them any and before they knew it the mountain wall that hid away the village loomed before them. Naruko felt the presence again and noticed that this time she was able to glean a few emotions from it. It felt excited and nervous at the same time. This confused her. Why would someone be excited and nervous about her? It's not that she didn't appreciate it she just wished she knew for sure who it was.

"Were finally here" Fujiwara pointed out "Ukimi, go ahead and inform the Kazekage that we've arrived."

"YESSIR MR. BOSS MAN!" Ukimi bit her thumb and made a handsign. She thrust her hands onto the ground and an Akamaru-sized, purple rabbit appeared. She jumped on it's back and rode off on it as if she was riding a horse.

"I will never figure out how that girl became a Jonin."

"SHE'S A JONIN?" The entire group asked in surprise.

"Yep. Though I'll be darned if I understand how" He said shaking his head "But I suppose she's a good ninja despite her excessive childishness."

"How quick is that rabbit of hers?" Kakashi asked with mild curiosity.

"If she is quick _enough_ we may find Kazekage-sama waiting for us at the gates." Fujiwara said. Naruko sure hoped so.

FOXFOXFOXFOX

Temari didn't know who this was in Gaara's bed but it couldn't be Gaara because Gaara didn't sleep. Gaara only ever slept for very short intervals and it was a very light sleep at that. This seemed to have lasted all night. He started to stir and she started to get nervous. It's not every morning that you wake up to your sister standing over you. She had no idea how he was going to react because your sister watching you sleep is creepy for one thing and for another she had no idea what mood he would be in. He opened his eyes and sat up. He looked a bit confused as he turned to look at Temari.

"Was I asleep?" He asked in a bit of disbelief.

"Yeah you were" Temari replied looking just as confused as Gaara.

"For how long?"

"I don't know I just came in a few minutes ago."

"What time is it?"

"Um" she looked at the clock "9:00 am."

"What do you know, I slept all night" He said with a small smile. He climbed out of bed and went to his closet. Temari didn't know what Gaara slept in because it was never relevant but now she found herself staring at her brother who was wearing nothing but a pair of black sweatpants. He picked out his normal outfit and entered his bathroom closing the door behind him. Temari left the room having totally forgotten what she came to tell him anyway with the distraction of a sleeping Gaara.

Gaara closed the bathroom door, approached the shower and turned the water on. After he removed his pants and boxers he stepped into the warm water and let it cascade over his body. The water soaked his red hair and ran over his toned chest. He ran his hand through his now-soaked hair and reached for the shampoo. He lathered his hair up and thought about his unexpected night-sleep. He had liked it about as much as it surprised him that he had gone unconscious the entire night and the village, not to mention the _mansion,_ was still standing. He knew that with Shukaku gone he wouldn't go crazy anymore but it was still odd. The soap ran down his firm pecks, over his moderately toned abs and off his long noticeably muscled legs as he rinsed his hair. He wondered if he continued sleeping well at night if the black raccoon-rings around his eyes would go away. He rather doubted it because he seemed to remember overhearing long ago that those rings were a side effect of Shukaku and would never go away.

"Gaara!" He heard Temari call through the bathroom door "I'm about to start breakfast!"

"Alright, be out in a minute" Gaara called back. He quickly washed his body down. It was a common misconception that Gaara was constantly covered in a layer of sand and it prevented him from getting dirty at all. Not true. He did have a layer of sand armor on most of the time but he could never vouch for where said sand had previously been and he liked to remove unknown substances from his body. Especially after a battle. He shut off the water and climbed out of the shower. He grabbed a towel and dried himself off, rigorously rubbing his red hair dry. He dressed quickly and rushed out of the bathroom, forgetting to brush his hair.

"Morning" He said as he entered the kitchen where Temari was fixing a breakfast of pancakes and Kankuro sat at the table with bloodshot eyes looking as if he just sat up in bed. His brothers greeting woke him up however and he proceeded to stare at Gaara as if he had sprouted an extra head.

"Good morning Gaara" Temari replied smiling at him. He had only caught her off guard for a second. She was getting used to him being friendlier and less homicide-prone. All-in-all she liked the new Gaara. It made being in the same room with him less nerve-wracking. "I hope you're hungry" She said setting a platter of pancakes and bacon on the table. This shook Kankuro out of his stupor and he jumped on the food like Pakkun on a hambone. Gaara sat down at the table and calmly filled his plate.

"Did you sleep well" Temari asked pouring more batter into the frying pan.

"'Aara ept?" Kankuro asked in shock with a full mouth.

"Yes I slept well" Gaara replied.

"Don't talk with your mouth full Kankuro" Temari scolded her brother.

"Yes Mom" Kankuro remarked sarcastically after he had swallowed his food. Temari glared at him. An amused looking Gaara watched his sibling's antics. He suddenly noticed Temari give him a strange look.

"What?"

"Did you brush your hair after your shower?" Gaara looked up at his messy still slightly damp hair.

"No, I suppose I didn't"

"You might want to before we go out later or you'll be giving your fangirl-glomp-shield a real workout."

"Yes…" The look on Gaara's face was downright unreadable. Unless it was incredibly stupid, Gaara always went blank at the mention of his fangirls (and occasional fanboy) especially lately. Temari figured it was because he didn't really know how to deal with it now that he actually had someone he was interested in. The rest of the meal went in relative silence minus the sounds Kankuro was making that sounded very similar to a hyena devouring an antelope. As they were clearing the dishes away a purple rabbit with a small child astride it appeared in the doorway. The child was bouncing up and down on it's back and the rabbit was looking more and more like it wanted to throw her off with each passing second.

"KAZEKAGE-SAMA!" The girl screeched "THE NINJA FROM KONOHA ARE ALMOST HERE!"

"Thank you Ukimi" Gaara said looking a bit startled at her sudden _loud_ outburst.

"You can go home now dear," Temari addressed the child "And remember to use you inside voice"

"That's what momma always tells me too!"

"Volume knob a bit lower please" Kankuro said wiggling his finger around in his ear as if trying to clear an obstruction.

"Okay" She said in a normal volume "Bye bye!" She turned her rabbit and spurred it away. It looked for a minute like it was actually going to toss her off his back but seemed to decide otherwise as it bolted from the room. Temari looked at Gaara who had a mildly excited look on his face. She was expecting something a bit more ecstatic but Temari figured that was as excited as Gaara got.

"Shall we go meet them?" Temari asked him knowing full well what the answer would be. He immediately nodded and went to retrieve his gourd. She smiled and put the last of the dishes away. His look of mild enthusiasm was rather cute. Like a puppy that heard a noise. If he didn't put the look away while traveling through the village though she would have to play the scary big sister to spook away the crowd of foaming fangirls that were sure to be drawn to him like Naruko to a free bowl of ramen. When he came back he had brushed his hair, put a normal look on his face and his gourd on his back. Kankuro had come back from changing his clothes and was waiting by the door.

Soon they were on their way to the entrance of the village to await the arrival of Naruko and her companions. The fangirls were out in force today but seemed to want to observe from afar, which Temari was thankful for. The villagers gave an occasional greeting to Gaara as they passed through the market district. The closer and closer they got to the entrance of Sunagakure the more and more excited Gaara started looking again. This obviously got a few peoples attention but Temari was able to send them skittering the other way with a well-practiced anti-fangirl glare. The large rock wall loomed in front of them before long and they stood looking out beyond it to the desert. They spotted several figures on the horizon. There was no wind at all that day but Temari could see sand floating about them serenely. She looked over at Gaara and was almost surprised to see a small smile on his face. The figures got nearer and soon they could clearly see their incoming guests, Naruko's face smiling in their direction.

FOXFOXFOXFOX

"You need to learn to give straight answers, un" Deidara said to Itachi Uchiha who was sitting on a rock in a cave reading a book that looked suspiciously like a volume of the Make-Out series.

"But that's no fun Deidara-chan" He smirked at the blonde from over the top of his book.

"Damn it! I told you not to call me 'chan'!" He yelled furiously at the stubborn, infuriating Uchiha.

"Is Tobi ready to intercept Naruko-chan when she enters Sunagakure?" Itachi asked ignoring Deidara's outburst.

"He'd better be" He snarled "I sent him the message"

"I hope you didn't use one of your clay birds to deliver it."

"Why not, un?"

"You have Tobi so spooked of those things he'll probably run screaming from it as soon as he see's it."

"Aw, crap."

"You really need to stop harassing him he's not _that _annoying"

"Easy for you to say" Deidara grumbled "_You_ don't have to work with the guy."

"That may be true but is he really worth wasting clay on?"

"I _hate _it when you're right, un"

"Right now let's just hope he get's the message" Sometimes Deidara could be very illogical and it almost drove Itachi up the wall.

"Yeah, yeah, Now where is Hidan? I _really_ need to blow something up."

"You are bound and determined to make that man break the world record for the number of times that the F-bomb is dropped in a single sentence."

"un." Deidara left the cave leaving behind an amused Itachi who went back to reading his book.

FOXFOXFOXFOX

Down the streets of Sunagakure strolled a man wearing white desert robes and an orange swirl mask that covered his whole face except one eye hole out of which peered a Sharingan. He happily made his way down the market street looking at the things in the different stalls. He hummed happily and hopped he did well on his mission so he could make Deidara-senpai and Itachi-san happy with him. He also couldn't wait to see Naruko-san! She was always nice to him and would bake him tasty muffins. Tobi loved muffins. He wandered back to his hotel, having seen everything he was interested in for now.

He entered his room and pulled off the robe. Underneath he was wearing a black shirt and pants, a white sash around his waist and a green scarf around his neck. He looked around the room and saw something on the table under the open window. Tobi moved closer to see what it was but quickly dove under the bed when he saw that it was one of Deidara-senpai's birds. Did Tobi do something wrong? Why is Deidara-senpai sending his birds after Tobi? Tobi is a good boy. Tobi peeked out at it. It was just _sitting_ there staring at him as if to say, _well come get me_. Tobi scootched closer to it. When he was right next to the table the small bird hopped closer to Tobi which caused him to dive under the table in shock.

"Tobi is being silly" Tobi said to no one "Deidara-senpai wouldn't send a bird to blow me up for no reason" He peeked over the edge of the table and looked at the little thing. He noticed it was shaking it's leg impatiently at him. He looked down and saw a little note tied to it's leg.

"Oh! Tobi has mail!" He quickly got over his fear and took the note. The bird then dispelled with a small 'pop' as Tobi unfolded the note. He quickly scanned the note and looked with alarm out his window. It was almost noon.

"OH NO!" Tobi said "Naruko-san is almost here!" He pulled the robe back over his head and rushed out to meet his friend.

FOXFOXFOXFOX

"Hi Gaara" Naruko greeted the Kazekage with great enthusiasm, stopping right in front of him.

"Hello Naruko" Gaara returned with a smile. He looked at Fujiwara. "You've done well, Fujiwara-san."

"Yes but you got here very early" Temari commented "You weren't supposed to arrive until this evening."

"Heck if I know. I thought we were going to be late because of Ukimi." Fujiwara answered.

"What happened?" Kankuro asked.

"Well, first she had go off and chase a little lizard she thought was cute, and then she found this pretty little flower on a cactus she had to stare at and it took me awhile to convince her to leave it, then she spent I don't know how much time chasing a bird I told her she couldn't catch but she wouldn't believe me. Then after we finally picked up the Konoha ninjas Kakashi and I BOTH had to chase her down after she took off after four separate 'shiny things' I swear only she could see, once we holed up in a cave for the night I caught her with a stash of candy she wasn't supposed to have, but it was too late to keep her from consuming _most_ of it, so needless to say she ended up pinballing around the cave for an hour and a half so I had to put her in the time-out sack. And then for most of today she's been drooling and comatose until she got over it. Finally I had to stop her from chasing a sand mouse then we got close enough to the village I could send her ahead as a messenger and here we are." Kankuro, Temari, and Gaara stared at him after his long explanative monologue.

"Um… Okay." Temari said looking a bit taken aback. She didn't think the child would have been _that_ much trouble.

"You have the patience of a saint." Kankuro said "I'd probably have stuffed her inside Black Ant half way there."

"Why do you think we never assign you a genin team?" Temari asked him "The poor kids would be scarred for life _and _scared of the dark."

"Hey! I'm not _that_ bad!" Kankuro yelled indignantly. Temari rolled her eyes at her brother and looked at Naruko. This was the longest she'd ever gone without talking or giving input. In fact she seemed to be staring at Gaara with a pleasant, daydreamy look. Strange. She looked very much like she wanted to hug him but was unsure whether or not to actually do it. Apparently she decided against it because she suddenly turned away with a small blush on her cheeks.

"You are dismissed Fujiwara, well done." Gaara said.

"Thank you Kazekage-sama." Fujiwara turned to Naruko and her group. "It was nice to meet you." He then sprang onto a roof and out of sight.

"We should head back home so you can settle in" Temari said "you're probably tired from your journey."

"I'll say" Shikamaru said trudging along behind then with his hands in his pockets " that was such a drag."

"No it wasn't, you're just lazy" Kiba said to his indolent teammate.

"Shut it dog-breath" Shikamaru retorted.

The trip was spent mostly laughing at the banter going between Shikamaru and Kiba, and casual chatting. They had passed into the market district of Sunagakure around noon and suddenly heard a loud excited voice.

"NARUKO-SAN! OVER HERE!"

"Huh?" She looked in the direction of the voice just in time to get tackled to the ground and tightly hugged by a man with a swirl mask and a well hidden Sharingan. She felt the sand around her shift in agitation as if it were about to strike. "Hello Tobi-kun"

"Tobi is so happy to see Naruko-san! I missed you and your muffins!" Naruko sweatdropped.

"I'll bake you some soon Tobi-kun… Could you get off of me? This is kind of awkward." Tobi shot up and off of her.

"Sorry!" He squeaked. Naruko started to get up and felt the once annoyed sand help push her to her feet.

"We're going to get settled in Tobi-kun. We'll talk later okay?" Naruko said kindly to her hyper 5-year-old minded friend.

"OKAY NARUKO-SAN!" Tobi exclaimed as he bolted away down the street.

"You have some very odd friends Naruko" Gaara said looking at the blonde fox-girl.

"Heh, yeah he's a handfull." She said scratching her head sheepishly. "Let's keep going, I'm getting tired of toting these bags" She said motioning to the three duffle bags she was carrying. One disappeared from her arm and she found it in Gaara's possession. He gave her a small smile and continued leading them to the mansion.

FOXFOXFOXFOX

"Ah! A soft bed!" Naruko said, flopping happily on the bed in the room that would be hers during her stay in Sunagakure. She heard a soft chuckle at the door. She looked up and Gaara stood smiling softly at her.

"Make yourself at home, as far as I understand it you'll be here for a while." He left, closing the door behind him. She stood and began to unpack her duffle bags. She stored the clothes in the drawers and small closet and placed a picture of her and team 7 on her bedside table.

It had gotten late and the sun was going down. They had eaten as soon as they arrived at the Kazekage mansion, leaving their bags at the door to retrieve them later. The rest of the day was spent catching up with recent happenings and chatting like old friends. After a uneventful dinner Gaara offered to show them their rooms, so now Naruko found herself standing in a nice room in a nice mansion only about three rooms down from her red-haired heart-throb. She'd wanted to hug him earlier (actually she wanted to hug him every time she got within three feet of him) but repressed the desire. She didn't know if he liked her that way or not and didn't want to make too bold a move too soon. It wasn't until she had made it up onto the roof that she noticed that her feet and legs where disobediently moving without her. She sat and stared at the sunset over Suna. She loved watching the sunset and the sunset over the desert was even more beautiful than back home in Konohagakure.

Her thoughts drifted back to Gaara. He was even more good-looking than she remembered. Bright red hair, sharp chin, oval face, piercing eyes that, depending on who he was looking at, could either cut you or seduce you, and the 'ai' kanji tattooed on his forehead. All she needed was a glimpse of what lay under his clothes to complete the fantasy. Her face turned red as the hair of the man she was thinking about. The sun had set completely now and the stars were beginning to show. She decided that it would be best to go inside and got up to leave. Before she was able to disappear into the house however, she could've sworn she heard a faint 'boom' and what sounded like very angry, vicious expletives being spewed into the night.

* * *

VOTE TIME!

You probably have noticed that our ninja duo of Fujiwara and Ukimi have dissapeared. They don't have to stay gone forever. If you want me to put them back in the story vote yes in a review. If you think the story would be better off without them vote no. A simple yes or no will do. I don't need people telling me how much the characters suck. You may courteously and respectfully tell me why you do or don't want them there. NOTE! They are a package deal! you don't get one without the other so any reviews requesting only one of them come back will not be counted. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

That's all for now! Tell me what you think and don't forget to vote! I have many more jokes with them that I could appropreately insert! ARIGATOU GOZAIMASHITA! REVIEW PLEASE!


	5. Chapter 5

I'M SO SORRY! This chapter drove me INSANE! I kept getting writer's block. Thank you for being so patient with me.

**Reviews**

**Girl of Games: **Thanks for the review. Your vote has been counted!

**Yami-No-HikariBre: **I'm glad your liking the story so much and thanks for voting!

**Kitsune Kala: **Thanks for the suggestion. I'll keep it in mind. Thank you for voting!

**Randomness-Is-My-Middle-Name: **I'm glad you like it so far. The shopping thing is me having fun and love can cause out of character behavior.

**Kichou: **Glad you enjoy it and thanks for voting!

**JessMess: **Thanks so much for keeping up with the story! I'm going to assume the comment was a vote.

**Sweetyamiyugigirl:** I'm glad you like my ideas and don't sweat the rambling, I like long reviews! Thanks for your vote!

**Ehanda: **Don't worry, there will be an entire chapter devoted to explaining this!

**Rockangel777: **No more waiting! Thanks for voting!

**Zero Kenzaki: **I'll keep that in mind, and thanks for voting!

**InsaneStalker: **Okay *cowers* please don't smother me!

**Kurokiya: **Okeydokey!

**Tsuirakuangel: **Okay, here is update. Thanks for reviewing!

**Disclaimer: **Still don't own nothing…

And now without further ado… The long awaited CHAPTER 5!

* * *

Naruko woke up feeling very frustrated. Once again she had a hot dream about Gaara and once again she woke up before she could get to the really good part. Unfortunately she didn't have anyone to blame for her untimely consciousness. She looked over at the clock on the bedside table next to the picture of team 7. 9:30. She heard people down the hall stirring around. She buried her head under the covers thinking that she'd just lay there for a few more minutes. She heard her door open and footsteps coming across the floor. Right as she was about to look to see who it was something collided hard with her head.

"YOU'RE STILL IN BED? GET UP!" Sakura's voice rang through the room and pierced her ears that responded by folding down against her head.

"OW!" Naruko jolted up looking angrily at her pink haired friend who looked like she woke up in a mood that suited Kyuubi. Sakura was still holding the offending object which turned out to be a spare pillow that had been lying at the end of her bed. "What is your problem?"

"There's no problem! Now get up and come down for breakfast!" Sakura yelled at her before stomping from the room. Naruko glared after her, rubbing her head where the pillow made contact. She swore that girl could make a feather hitting you hurt. She got out of bed and decided to shower before breakfast. She went over to her closet and picked the outfit that consisted of a mesh t-shirt blue wide necked shirt and khaki shorts. She made her way into her bathroom and looked in the mirror as she passed. There was a red mark across the left side of her face where the pillow had hit her. Naruko didn't know what side of the bed Sakura woke up on but it was definitely the _wrong_ one.

She turned back to the shower and turned the water on to the warmth she wanted, removed her sleeping clothes, and stepped into the shower. The hot water cascaded down her body, finishing what the blow to the head started. She squirted a bit of soap into her hands and began to rub herself down and allowed her mind to wander. Her hands passed over her breasts and brushed her nipples that were unusually hard. She rolled them around with the intention of cleaning them but found the sensations very pleasurable. Her body seemed to be extremely sensitive this morning. Deciding to explore, she ran a finger over her hard nipple. A small groan of pleasure escaped her lips. She found herself wondering what it would be like to shower with Gaara.

"Would you like to find out?" She felt a pair of warm hands press against her back and slide around to rest on her breasts. Her head whipped around and found herself looking into piercing aqua eyes. He leaned forward and kissed her deeply giving her breasts a soft squeeze. She moaned softly against his lips. He broke the kiss and found his way to her neck, licking and nipping a trail down to her collarbone. She groaned at the sensation followed quickly by a pleasured squeak caused by her nipples being tweaked and twisted. After a minute, while one hand massaged her left breast his right hand slid down her stomach and in between her legs to stroke the soft lips. Her breathing was heavy and punctuated by soft moans and small whimpers. He stroked for a minute before dipping inside and pressing on her hard clit.

"Ah! T-that's soooo goood!" She cried out spreading her legs to better accommodate him. He massaged her vigorously occasionally sliding down and glancing across her entrance that was becoming wet and slick. Finally his finger slid in and wriggled around causing her to cry out in pleasure. He rubbed her breast gently occasionally pinching and twisting her nipple and his lips traveled around her neck leaving soft pecks and nips behind.

Soon a second finger slipped in and began to scissor around, stretching her out while still moving in and out. A bit of drool had begun to slide out of her mouth and her moans where becoming louder and louder with each passing moment. It felt as if something inside of her was winding tighter and tighter until at long last with a final thrust of fingers and a loud cry of pleasure the wound spring snapped, releasing her first orgasm. She stood for a moment regaining her mind. She slid her fingers from inside her, wishing that the Gaara pleasuring her hadn't been a fantasy for her to masturbate to. She stood for a moment allowing the water to rinse the sweat off her body then reached once again for the soap to finish cleaning her body.

Her hands once again roamed her body this time with no intension of any pleasurable sidetracking (as fun as it might have been). She quickly shampooed her hair when she realized how long she had been in the shower. She rinsed in record time, shut off the water, dried and dressed as swiftly as possible. She hurried out of the room before Sakura decided to come in and beat the living snot out of her for taking so long.

FOXFOXFOXFOX

Gaara vaguely wondered what the commotion down the hall was about. He heard the pink-haired girls voice yell something along with the sound of something colliding hard with something else. After brushing his hair (he had already taken his shower) he wondered out into the hall in time to hear a cry come out of Naruko's room. It was faint and covered up by running water but strangely enough it didn't sound bad. He decided to wait near her room to see what it was and about five minutes later a still slightly damp Naruko emerged from her room.

"What was that noise?" He asked her. She looked at him with a deer-caught-in-headlights look. She obviously hadn't expected him to be standing there when she came out.

"Um…" She visibly calmed "Sakura decided to wake me up by bashing me in the head with a pillow."

"No the other noise"

"…What other noise?" She asked the question slowly and her face started to turn just slightly red.

"I thought I heard you scream." Naruko's face suddenly turned roughly the shade of a ripe tomato.

"N-no! It was nothing! Just an accident!" Gaara looked as if he didn't believe her but decided not to press the issue. They walked to the kitchen in silence occasionally stealing glances at each other. Naruko hoped she would get to spend a little time with Gaara but doubted it. Gaara was the Kazekage and had plenty of work to do and she didn't expect him to drop everything just because she showed up. As they reached the kitchen they heard a commotion that sounded like Sakura had gotten into an argument with Kiba.

"What the hell is wrong with you this morning?" Kiba asked Sakura looking at her indignantly.

"There's nothing wrong with me!" Sakura replied "why does everyone keep asking me that?"

"Because you are seriously PMSing right now." Shikamaru deadpanned.

"If all of you don't shut it I'm gonna shove a chopstick up all of your noses and throw you out of the kitchen!" Temari yelled swirling on the spot and pointing said chopsticks threateningly in their direction. This seemed to diffuse the argument because no one doubted Temari would do it. Gaara cleared his throat.

"Good morning" he stated very sternly. Everyone in the kitchen looked immediately at Gaara. The Konoha nin looked slightly alarmed and a bit on edge. He strode over to the table and sat down motioning for Naruko to sit in the empty seat next to him. She happily obliged.

"Good morning Gaara" answered Temari seemingly not the least bit fazed by her brother's greeting or presence. "Morning, Naruko. Have a nice night?"

"Oh yes!" She answered enthusiastically "the bed is so comfortable I dropped right off."

"And slept in as far as I heard" said Gaara nonchalantly taking a sip of Orange Juice.

"Yeah." Naruko grinned sheepishly. "I suppose that explains Sakura this morning though."

"What?" Sakura glared mild bloodlust at the fox-girl who's tail (Short and puffy) waggled happily.

"Sakura you are always in a bad mood the morning after you sleep in a strange bed." Sakura glared, but sat and stayed silent.

"And to the fox goes the round…" Shikamaru mumbled. Apparently he wasn't quite awake either.

"Heh, someone's still in bed." Kiba said elbowing his friend in the ribs.

"He's not the only one." Gaara said thumbing over his shoulder to Kankuro who had entered the kitchen. He looked kind of like a zombie without the rotting flesh or green skin. He glided over to the seat beside Sakura who looked freaked out.

"Don't worry. He'll wake up as soon as food get placed in front of him" Temari said flipping a piece of sausage over.

"How did I get stuck taking this trip again?" Neji said.

"WHAA!" Kiba nearly fell out of his seat in shock "GEEZ! When did you get here?"

"He's been here" Naruko said. Everyone looked at her as if she'd developed turquoise skin. "Whut?"

"He was here when we came in" all eyes turned to Gaara. No one was really used to Gaara being so talkative and _not_ be plotting their gruesome sandy deaths.

"So… This a normal breakfast time for you guys?" Naruko asked Gaara who had taken to staring at all of them in turn.

"No, not quite" Temari sat a plate of sausage and eggs in front of her drooling, half asleep, zombie brother. It was like the 'on' switch to a vacuum cleaner. Sound and all.

"KANKURO!" He looked at Temari with his mouth full "Don't eat like a wild animal when we have guests!"

"Ur ot y om e'ari!" Temari seethed.

"HOW ABOUT I SHOVE YOUR PLATE DOWN YOUR THROAT?" Kankuro swallowed and began a very heated argument with her.

"Ah, now it's normal." Gaara commented, picking up some egg with his chopsticks. Naruko watched the argument in amusement. It became the breakfast entertainment. Everyone stopped talking in favor of watching the siblings squabble about table manners. Naruko sat and watched in interest, just waiting for things to be thrown. She didn't have to wait long for a fork to come flying out of nowhere directly at _her_ head. She squeaked and began to duck when a shield of sand materialized in front of her, catching the fork. She then found herself looking at Kankuro, the thrower of the fork, pinned to the wall with said fork pointed at his head.

"I have had enough of your incessant fighting" Gaara said dangerously quietly to both his siblings "and I don't care who started it I'm finishing it." he said sternly to Kankuro who looked like he was about ready to protest. Temari 'hmphed' and turned back to her cooking and Gaara let Kankuro down. He shakily returned to his seat next to Sakura picked up his chopsticks and continued to eat silently. Naruko looked at Gaara who had a now mildly annoyed look on his face.

"Was _that_ normal?"

"No, I usually just let them fight it out" He picked up some sausage "But they nearly hurt you. I'm not going to let it continue when people are put in danger." Naruko looked at him with a mild swoon. All eyes where on Gaara, and Temari and Kankuro looked embarrassed.

The rest of the meal went by in silence other than a few outbursts from Kiba that were quickly squashed by a still irritable Sakura. Kakashi came in close to end of the meal and ate so fast no one could get a glimpse of what was hidden under his mask. As a matter of fact nobody even saw him eat, it was like he took it in through osmosis. Soon they had cleaned the breakfast dishes and where ready to part ways for the day. The Konoha nin had left their headbands off to better blend in with the people of Sunagakure. Naruko, claiming that she felt naked without her Hitai-ate had wrapped a piece of cloth around her forehead. Temari reassured her that they would be getting Suna headbands to more thoroughly blend them in. Naruko offered to walk with Gaara to the Kazekage office claiming to want to see a bit more of Suna.

"Alright, meet in my office around 12:30 and I should have your headbands ready." Gaara instructed. The group nodded. He turned and opened the front door allowing Naruko to exit first. Naruko strolled happily out of the house and fell into step beside Gaara.

They walked through Sunagakure chatting. Gaara mentioned his swimming pool and Naruko's eyes lit up. How did Gaara know about her love of water? She would definitely have to try it out later.

"So how have you been lately?" Naruko asked Gaara.

"Fine, I guess. Not having Shukaku is a bit strange."

"I guess it would be. If I lost Kyuubi it would probably feel like loosing part of myself."

"Shukaku felt more like an unpleasant houseguest that wouldn't leave. It is strange not being on guard to prevent his escape."

"I'm assimilated with Kyu. The seal technically isn't there anymore." Naruko explained. Gaara gave her a mildly alarmed look.

"The seal is gone?"

"You shouldn't worry!" Naruko said hastily "She doesn't try to take me over or anything."

"She?"

"Uh… Yeah, turns out Kyuubi is female." Gaara said nothing more and continued to the office. He noticed Naruko look cautiously over her shoulder.

"Is something wrong?"

"Well, I suddenly feel like I should be afraid for my life." Naruko said nervously. Gaara looked behind her and it didn't take him long to locate the source of her discomfort. Peeking out from behind a wall was a gaggle of his fangirls. They all seemed to be glaring death at Naruko. He made a mental note to keep a very close watch on her.

"I don't think they'll do anything too drastic, but be on guard anyway" Gaara warned her. She nodded shyly. They reached the Kazekage tower within the next few minutes and they parted company. Naruko decided to go back to the house and try out the swimming pool. That seemed safer than walking around town with a bunch of vengeful females on the prowl.

FOXFOXFOXFOX

Gaara was able to get off work early that day. After the meeting in his office to give Naruko, who's hair and ears seemed wet, and her companions sand hitai-ate, he finished his paperwork in record time. He decided to head home to see if Naruko happened to be there. He searched the house and she was nowhere in sight so he ventured out to the pool area where, sure enough, there she was floating in an inner tube sound asleep with her tail, a big, wet, fluffy mass, floating lazily behind her. He found the situation amusing and Naruko extremely cute. However he didn't want her to burn so he reached out with a tendril of sand and gently nudged her arm. She stirred and opened her eyes.

"You'll burn if you stay in there too long." Gaara stated. Naruko blinked sleepily at him.

"Mm… 'kay…" She yawned, stretched, and slipped out of the inner tube underneath the water. She popped up at the edge and hoisted herself out. Gaara was glad that he was currently exercising his sand armor policy because if he weren't his face would definitely be red. Naruko was wearing a bikini that left very little to the imagination. The cups just barely contained her double d breasts and her bottom piece was cut extremely low to make room for her tail. He had the impression that if she where to get up and jump up and down she would pop right out if it. He watched her open a bottle of sunscreen and apply it to her arms. She had oiled her entire front side before he could get himself to move.

"Would you get my back?"

"Huh?" He shook himself out of his Naruko-induced stupor and looked at the bottle she was waving at him.

"My back, would you oil it?" He silently took the bottle from her. She turned her back to him and, to his shock, untied the back of her top, exposing her back completely. His face heated up again. He removed the sand from his hands and poured some sunscreen into them.

Naruko was about to pop from excitement. She was in a bikini next to a huge swimming pool with her crush about to apply sunscreen to her back. The only way it could be more perfect was if he was in a swimsuit too. She felt his hands spreading the cream around on her back, rubbing it in. His hands were surprisingly soft. They roamed her back for a few minutes and she almost got lost in the sensation.

"Would you maybe care to swim with me?" She asked shyly.

"…I suppose" She almost squealed with excitement. His hands left her back and she turned her head to watch him walk into a small changing room.

Why was he doing this again? Oh yeah. Naruko asked him to. Love makes you do weird things apparently. He hated being submerged in water. He took showers but that was for hygienic reasons so it didn't count. He placed his gourd against the wall of the small changing room and allowed the sand to flow off his body and back into the gourd. He opened the cabinet where the bathing suits got stored. He stripped and pulled on the swim trunks that Temari insisted she keep out there for him just in case. He exited the dressing room to find Naruko staring at him from the edge of the pool. She smiled at him and stood. She trotted over to him, took his hand and pulled him to the water.

"So… Do, you like my swimsuit?" she seemed to be nervous about posing this question to him.

"You look… Nice" She smiled wide and bounced up and down happily, giggling. Apparently he was mistaken about the containing capabilities of her bikini top because her breasts bounced around rather heartily and stayed well concealed in the cups to his surprising disappointment. _Well at least I know I'm a normal male. _

After the bouncing fit he found himself being pulled into the water by an excited Naruko. He sank in up to his chest and oddly enough was rather comfortable in the cool water. Maybe because today had been hot enough even the desert dwellers had been rather uncomfortable. He watched Naruko paddle cutely around the pool, her fluffy tail following her like some strange aquatic pet and felt like he could definitely get into this swimming thing if he was with Naruko.

FOXFOXFOXFOX

Temari was having another crisis of the mind. The red haired man in the pool couldn't be Gaara because her brother didn't get in the pool. She happened to know that Gaara _hated_ being submerged in water. She looked at his companion and mentally cursed and applauded the fox girl at the same time. She applauded her for getting Gaara out of his box and cursed her for trying to drive her insane. She leaned against the frame of the second story window she was at and looked closely at her brother's face. There was actually a small smile on his face as he watched Naruko swim laps in the water. She wondered to herself when Gaara was going to try to confront Naruko about his feelings. This would be a good time.

FOXFOXFOXFOX

Much to Temari's (and Gaara's) disappointment the pool time wrapped up without much incident. The biggest thing that came out of the three full hours the spent in the pool (five hours in Naruko's case) was that Naruko got a mild sunburn despite her best efforts. Naruko got put in an annoyed mood after Sakura pointed out that it was rather pointless to get in the pool _after_ applying the sun block and washing it all off in the water. The mood persisted until Gaara hugged her goodnight that night. She went to bed feeling strangely fuzzy, like that hug had been meant to be more than just friendly. Could Gaara possibly feel for her what she felt for him? She decided that tomorrow, if she found an opportunity, she would talk to him about it, but for now she let herself drift off to sleep hoping that she would wake up burnless.

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Sorry for the rather abrupt ending. By the time I got this far I was so sick of writing on this I just wanted it to end! I'll make it up to you in the next chapter. Not sure when that is going to be, I have other stories in the works like Dearest Sister I recently posted. No one's reviewed it yet *pout*. I hope to start on a few more story ideas but you can guarantee I won't abandon this one.

The Ukimi, Fujiwara vote stands as thus:

Bring them back: 8

Leave them out: 1

The poll will remain open for this one last chapter so be sure to get your vote in.

Note: ONLY ONE VOTE PER PERSON! If you've already voted I wont count it again.

With all that said, Please review. Bye-Bye!


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